Kansas City, Missouri, is home to a MLB franchise Missourians can be proud of. The Royals play out of Kauffman Stadium - also known as "The K" - which opened in 1973 as Royals Stadium, and has a current capacity of 37,903. They are managed by Matt Quatraro, who replaced Mike Matheny in 2022.

Kansas City Royals History

Kansas City has a long tradition of Major League Baseball going back to the 1880s, when three different franchises, all named Kansas City Cowboys, played in three different leagues. K.C. was also home to the Packers of the Federal League in 1914 and 1915, and the legendary Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1955. Before the 1955 season, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, only for owner Charles O. Finley to move them to Oakland in 1968. U.S. Senator Stu Symington threatened MLB with antitrust litigation unless Kansas City fielded a franchise in 1969, causing AL expansion to be moved up from 1971, where the newly-dubbed Royals joined the Seattle Pilots.

The Royals succeeded early, winning three consecutive AL West titles from 1976 to 1978, before beating the New York Yankees on their fourth try in the 1980 American League Championship Series. The Royals lost the 1980 World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, but George Brett hit .390 for the season and was awarded the AL MVP. Kansas City finally won the World Series in 1985 after coming back down 3 games to 1 twice, against the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals. Bo Jackson wowed fans with his hitting and defense in the late '80s and early '90s, but the franchise was largely a non-factor for the next two decades. The '10s were a decade of resurgence under manager Ned Yost and behind the play of Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas and a strong bullpen led by Wade Davis. The 2014 Royals came from behind against the A's to win a classic Wild Card game, and then swept the Angels and Orioles to win the 2014 AL pennant. The Royals lost to the San Francisco Giants in seven games, but won the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets in five games.